Solitaire
by kibou7587
Summary: “To think, a simple card game made me realize or rather, face for the first time, that every action I make, every decision I choose, affects the outcome of the game.” She looked up into his cold and calculating eyes, “How do you…play?”
1. Introduction

Solitaire by Kibou7587

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters or the story line. So yeah.

This is my first fan fiction and first public piece of writing ever. Please be kind…then brutally honest.

It's gonna start off kind of slow…and I actually have no idea how long it's going to be but bear with me, please.

Introduction

"Osuwari!!" screamed a distraught young miko in her usual unusual green and white attire. Having just concluded another battle of lung capacity with a hanyou as stubborn as herself, the young girl was indignant, frustrated, and rather at a loss as to what to do with herself. The hanyou who caused her such strife had already leapt away to sulk in the high boughs of one of the many trees surrounding the clearing that they and their companions inhabited for the evening.

The remaining bystanders of the fray simply looked on, somehow undeniably riveted to the scene before them despite the fact that they had seen it before. It was like a really good tv show with a completely typical story line—they had seen it a million times before and like a million times before Kagome attempts to start a conversation, which Inuyasha always magically manages to turn into a confrontation. So the story goes…

1) Kagome asks Inuyasha to go home or tells Inuyasha she is only back for a short time (depending upon the day)

2) Inuyasha insults her

3) Kagome becomes upset, indignant, frustrated, angry, sad…etc. etc. All of the above on some days.

4) They fight.

5) Inuyasha gets "sat"

Now about here is where it gets interesting. The monk, taijiya, kitsune, and neko are, from step five, familiar with two courses of action called 6A and 6B.

6A) Inuyasha caves and goes off to sulk

7A) Kagome is exceedingly grateful and cheery until her departure

This is the usual course of events. 6B happens so rarely that the fascinated onlookers had all but forgotten it existed. But on this particular night they were pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised because the turn of events had taken the miko and hanyou down the path of 6B which follows:

6B) Inuyasha refuses and stalks off before the miko can respond

7B) Repeat step 3

8B) Kagome tries to vent her frustrations—typically via more sitting Inuyasha or taking a bath.

And such is the show the monk, taijiya, kitsune, and neko are accustomed to. But this particular night was not meant to turn out like all the others because Kagome neither excessively sat the inuhanyou nor did she demand Sango's companionship for a bath—whether it was because she tired of both or was simply angry enough to not think of either no one was sure.

But the group watched on in clear fascination as their young friend stood staring after Inuyasha. With Kagome's loud cry of "OSUWARI!!" the group relaxed, back in familiar territory. And from there things continued business and usual, as far as everyone present was concerned. Kagome prepared their meals and they ate in comfortable silence, with the occasional mutter from Kagome about how stupid and stubborn dogs were and Miroku nodding in sympathy and Shippo throwing in his own insults.

While cleaning up and putting the supplies back into her bag Kagome spots something that has no business or purpose for the feudal era. It was a small rectangular box with red and white diagonal stripes across the surface, creating a diamond pattern over the box. "Oh," she muses aloud, "I wonder how this got in here."

"How what got where, Kagome?" The miko turned to the little kitsune who had come to explore what she had found. She placed it back within the confines of her bag—it would do no good to keep Shippo up tonight with a new game for him to want to play.

"It's nothing important, I'll show you tomorrow," she quickly reassured her adoptive son. "You should be going to bed soon. We'll be doing a lot of traveling tomorrow, if we hope to beat Naraku to the last shards."

Night descended and everyone began settling in for the night. Inuyasha was still nowhere to be seen, but that was to be expected, he was undoubtedly still close by keeping watch over them. Slowly each member of the group drifted off. Starting with Shippo, then Kirara, then Sango, and Miroku—and then there were two.

And the night progressed with two very unhappy people awake and fizzling, their annoyance a far cry from the intense anger it was earlier that evening. "Go to sleep, wench," the trees commented down to Kagome, "you'll need the energy tomorrow if you have any hope of finding the shards."

Still annoyed beyond belief but not willing to wake her companions with another verbal sparring session, Kagome opted for the high road, of sorts, and lay down in her sleeping bag, closing her eyes and evening out her breathing. "Good night, Inuyasha."

A slight huff which sounded suspiciously like a "g'night" was heard from the trees. Followed by a soft thud and shuffling. Kagome turned over in her sleeping bag and looked toward the noise to see Inuyasha settled against the tree directly across from hers, eyebrows furrowed. She watched him for some time and after a few minutes she saw his brows relax and knew he was asleep—and then there was one.

Kagome lay awake in her sleeping bag alternating between quick glances at her companions, to staring at the star-dotted sky with its crescent moon, to checking to see if the fire was dying. She let out an inaudible sigh and let her mind wander.

It had been two years since she had fallen down the well. Two years since she met Inuyasha, and two years since her life was changed forever. Almost two years spent in the Feudal Era hunting demons, seeking jewel shards, forging friendships, and fighting the good fight. Two year since she met Inuyasha. And thingshad changed a great deal. She no longer believed that demons did not exist, no longer squirmed at the sight of blood or broken bones, no longer ran in the face of danger, no longer feared for her life alone, and no longer disliked Inuyasha as she had in the beginning--quite the opposite actually.

She was almost certain she loved him. She knew she cared for him. She knew she would do almost anything for him. And she knew she did not want to ever see him hurt. She knew she wanted to keep him happy and healthy, and she knew she would die for him. But she was only _almost certain _she loved him. He was brash and angry and emotionally stunted, but Kagome did not care about those things. They were the things that made him distinctly "Inuyasha."

Kagome giggled lightly at herself and the turn her thoughts had taken. Thinking was tiring, worrying was tiring, sleep was inviting. But try as she might, Kagome could not go to sleep. So staring again at the stars peeking through the trees the young girl rolled over and quickly made her way to her yellow backpack. Feeling a little bit childish (in the good way) she crept slowly toward her backpack on her tip-toes, shoulders scrunched forward, and eyes wide for any sudden movements from her slumbering friends, all the while humming the tune to the "Pink Panther" in her head as she moved.

Finally reaching her backpack she silently rummaged through her pack. With a silent exclamation Kagome did a little victory dance, to a tune only she could hear, and made her way back to her bedding. Instead of sliding back into it, she positioned herself cross legged on top of it and got comfy. Kagome cast a cursory glance to make sure everyone was still asleep and then gave a purposeful yawn to see if she was sleepy yet. Deciding she was not, she set about her task and pulled out a small box with red and white diamonds on the surface. She opened the box and pulled out…a standard deck of cards.

52 count. 4 suits—two red, two black. Each suit counting from Ace to King. Just a standard deck of cards. Kagome hadn't had time to play since she started her time traveling, or maybe she simply never made the time for it. Whatever the case was, it didn't keep her from renewing one of her favorite pastimes. And with a slight smile on her face, she dealt out the cards.

Seven rows. Each row with one more card in it than the other, the last card of each section flipped so that the face showed. Four empty spaces left above the seven rows. It was Kagome's favorite one-person game—Solitaire.

* * *

Okay, so I had no idea how hard writing a fanfiction actually is.

This is only the Intro and I'm getting worn out. I know its really slow and there's a lot of prose, but this is my first public piece of writing and I just could not resist jam-packing it with a bunch of useless-ness heh.

It will get better!! I hope. I do have a point to this fic. Hopefully I'll get there sooner rather than later.

please review?

( I just realized I kind of punned w/ how many times I said hope and my name being kibou...if anyone caught that…if not…ignore me.)


	2. Chapter 1: Go Fish

Chapter 1: Go Fish

It was a good day. Everyone had gotten up in a good mood. Miroku had gotten a good feel thanks to Sango. Sango got to practice her right hook thanks, or no thanks, to Miroku. Inuyasha got his shard-detector for a few days longer than expected and Shippo got his daily dose of sugar (in the form of candy). As for Kagome—she was the paradigm of contentment. She walked alongside Kirara, carrying Shippo on her shoulder, every once in a while patting the front pocket of her backpack (in an act of seeming self-reassurance).

"So what'd you find in your bag yesterday, Kagome?" asked Shippo. The travelers had stopped for a late lunch after defeating a rather weak rabbit demon that had gotten its paws on a sliver of the jewel. With one more thing to be grateful about, the group's mood was further heightened.

Turning back to Shippo after retrieving said object, Kagome showed him. "It's a deck of cards." When she was greeted with still expectant eyes she opted to elaborate, "It's just something you can pass the time with. You can play games, gamble, entertain, do tricks, and tell fortunes with it."

"Wow! Really?!"

"Yup, they're really common in my era." She began pulling them out of the box, "Do you want me to show you how to play one of the games?" She laughed at how quickly and vigorously he nodded his head. "You guys can play too," Kagome said turning to Sango and Miroku. "I tried teaching Inuyasha once, he just got upset and ripped them up. Needless to say, he's not invited to play" she said childishly sticking her tongue out at Inuyasha.

"Keh, who needs your stupid game anyway?"

In an attempt to stop the impending fight Miroku piped up, "I for one, Kagome-san, am quite interested in your game. As I am sure Sango-san is as well." Sango nodded, "we would be more than happy to learn your game."

Pleased that most of them seemed eager to learn Kagome began shuffling the deck of cards. "This one is going to be fairly simple," she explained "It's a children's game from my times, so I figure I can teach it first, since it's for Shippo," she instructed as she handed out seven cards to each player. "There are more complicated games of course…although I don't think it would be best for me to teach you some of them," with a quick glance at Miroku, "like strip poker…" she mumbled a little too loudly under her breath.

At the word "strip" Miroku's attention was piqued and he instantly turned his gaze to Kagome, "is there truly such a game, Kagome-san? And it can be played with these…cards?" He looked expectantly at her, as though he was Shippo and Kagome had candy.

"Can it Houshi," Sango came to the rescue of the girl, "Do not taint Kagome's game with your lecherous thoughts."

"You wound me, Sango-sama." He feigned hurt, altering her honorific.

"So how do we play, Kagome?" Shippo asked, having finished his candy and lost interest the conversation.

Laughing amusedly, she set the remaining cards in the middle of the four players. "The deck of cards has 52 cards, 4 suits—meaning hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs or clovers," she said showing each respective suit to the three other players. "Each set of suits has a card from Ace to King. For this game, all you really need to know is that there are 4 of each card in the deck. The point of the game is to get as many pairs as you can and lose your cards first. So the person with the most cards at the end of the game loses and the person who loses all their cards first wins."

"Your explanation seems simple enough," Miroku said, "What type of actions can we take to win?"

Almost surprised by his intuitiveness, Kagome continued explaining, "First off, if you have any pairs already in your hand, you can put them down," she demonstrated, putting her set of cards face down on the ground. She watched and waited as her companions did similarly. Sango put down two pairs, Shippo put down one pair, Miroku looked slightly put out and did not place any cards down.

Chucking to herself Kagome continued, "I'll start since I was the dealer. I'm going to ask if anyone has a card that I need. 'Miroku, do you have any nines?' and if you do, Miroku, you have to give it to me. Do you?" reluctantly Miroku handed over his nine. "Yay!" Kagome exclaimed with a mini-fist-pump. "Now, since I asked right, I get to go again, and can ask anyone for a card. 'Shippo, do you have any threes?'"

And so the young miko taught her friends the finer arts of Go Fish. It served to keep them entertained for quite a while and all parties were reluctant to head back on the road. But common sense won out and they all knew they should be going. So the game was ended and the cards packed away in their little red and white, diamond littered box.

Kagome opted to carry the cards instead of placing them back in her bag. So as the group continued their silent walk she tossed the box, up and down, catching it and throwing it, humming a happy little tune. Today had been a good day. The group walked toward the setting sun, back dropped on a red sky.

A good day…

* * *

I actually think that's a really POOR way to end a chapter, but I'm new and not good at this, which really should be no excuse but I'm gonna use it as one anyway. haha.

right now, I'm just trying to get my ideas across. this is mostly just a filler chapter, if you couldn't tell.


	3. Chapter 2: Again

Chapter 2:Again

He had done it…again.

Inuyasha had left to go meet with Kikyo. What they did while alone, Kagome did not even want to think about. Inuyasha had simply stopped in a clearing and said "This is good enough" and took off. Everyone knew where he was going, even if they were stupid, the soul skimmers floating in the distance would have been hard to miss.

And so Kagome was left, standing at the edge of the clearing, barely catching his words as the hanyou raced off toward the soul skimmers and her incarnation. She stood there with the deck of cards in her hand, fists tight around the box making her knuckles white. Slipping her backpack off, she put on her best smile, which failed to reach her eyes, and asked if it'd be alright if she took a walk for a bit. Not waiting for an answer Kagome turned around and ran in the opposite direction of Inuyasha and Kikyo.

When her legs finally gave out and she could no longer breathe Kagome came to an unceremonious, crashing halt on the forest floor. She gasped and waited for tears to fill her eyes and run down her face. For some reason they refused to come. She knew she needed to cry, it was her way of coping. It was one of her only outlets. Kagome was not an especially emotional person, she simply could not control her tear ducts. If she did cry for stupid reasons it was probably because she could do nothing else, but her tears were seldom attached to her emotions—at least not in the way most people would think.

So it came as an extreme shock when they refused to function for her that day especially considering the circumstances. But she did not question it much. She heard running water and made her way out of the forest toward the stream she heard. Looking down she realized she still held the cards in her hands.

Glancing up at the sky she noticed that the moon had gotten fuller. Holding her hand in front of her face, as though to measure the strength of the light, she quickly seated herself upon a large, flat rock on the water's edge and opened the deck of cards.

She shuffled them a few times before dealing. 7 rows, each with one more card that the previous. Her hands moved smoothly almost of their own accord. And she allowed them to. Playing solitaire required minimal thought. It allowed her body to perform a task while allowing her brain to remain blank. It was her own little form of meditation.

So until quite late into the night Kagome remained perched on her stone outcrop. She took her game quite seriously, taking long periods of time to contemplate her next move. It was a rather curious sight. A little human alone in the middle of the night, sitting out in the open, seemingly engrossed with moving little pieces of paper, and clearly unaware of her surroundings—an easy target for any rogue demon.

At least that's what the particular demon who had chanced upon her was thinking.

* * *

Typical? Predictable? Too bad, I can't do much better right now. I'll do a whoooole bunch of editing in the summer when school's out and I don't have to worry about AP tests and SAT subject tests.

Is there too much narration? Too little dialogue? Feedback would be great. Thanks.

I do have a point to all this, promise.


	4. Chapter 3: Bad Luck

All my love goes out to GalaxyAngel019, my first Reviewer EVER! Thanks to her I have the courage to keep on keeping on…whatever that actually means.

I've been spending most of my English classes thinking of ways to apply what I learn to my writing…hopefully it'll show.

Chapter 3: Bad Luck

It was pretty late in the night and Kagome was a little bit curious that no one had come get her. Not curious enough to worry about it though. Finally taking a break in between her latest game of solitaire, she'd run out of moves to make, she looked up into the sky. The moon had traveled far since the last time she looked up, signaling how long she had really been playing for. Deciding she'd head back after she won the next game, she picked up the cards and shuffled the deck.

She had almost finished laying out the cards for the next game when a light breeze came her way. It was by no means a strong breeze but it was enough to send her hair dancing in the wind, unfortunately, it took her cards with it, and because her cards were not anchored to her head like her hair—they went flying.

"Oh, no!!" She exclaimed, quickly clamoring off her perch to grab her fallen cards before they could go too far. Grabbing the remainder of the deck she ungraciously scrambled to collect the cards that had been blown off her stone seat and onto the forest floor.

"This is just greeeat." She muttered, deciding she had collected all the errant cards. "Fifty-two pick up out in a forest. Fantastic." She plopped herself down where she stood and set about counting the cards.

When the count only came up to 51, she began looking around frantically. "No, no, no, no, nooo. Come on, it has to be around here somewhere!"

Turning her head around to see if the wind had carried any of her cards farther than she had expected, Kagome glimpsed an unusually bright spot of white lying at the base of one of the trees leading back into the forest. Twisting herself back to a standing position she began toward the lost card but stopped and stared.

The card was no longer at the base of the tree. It was now located a good 5 feet higher, being held in the hand of one of the last people she expected to see. Cursing herself for not detecting his presence and again for not bringing her bows she attempted to assess her situation. Strangely enough being in the presence of one such at him can really do a number on a person's brain, as Kagome soon found out.

Kagome felt like her mind was moving a million miles a minute even though her body knew she had only been standing there for a few seconds. Even though she knew she should be afraid or panicked or cowering, she could really only think of two things, the first one being how it was so _not_ her fault she was caught in this situation. If he wanted to remain undetected he would—he was a freaking taiyoukai!! and second, it really would not have done any good if she had her bow.

So she stood there, considerably sure she was temporarily paralyzed and went over her mental monologue. Another gust of wind swept through the area reminding Kagome to breathe. She took a deep breath, not really remembering when she had stopped breathing. The zephyr finished its trip through the clearing sweeping the demon's elegant hair in beautiful arches and curves. And as it left it seemed to hit the 'play' button on the scene, Kagome steeled herself and reset her footing.

Leveling her eyes to the being in front of her she met his piercing gaze. "Jaken," she greeted curtly with a nod.

Golden eyes narrowed at her, and while Kagome just _knew_ it was not a good idea to mess with a demon that could rightly kill her in an instant, she just could not resist. She tried successfully to stifle the laughter bubbling in her throat but could not stop the light shining from her mirthful eyes. When he simply continued to stare at her, seemingly waiting for a more suitable acknowledgement, she nearly burst.

Deciding she had pushed her luck far beyond its limits for one night and especially for this particular demon Kagome put on her friendliest smile and bowed her deepest (although silliest) bow—she was never one to take "authority figures" seriously. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she said levelly, eyes still laughing at herself but with a much stronger air of seriousness about her, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He raised an eyebrow at her apparent levity, "You are unattended and unarmed, miko."

Mentally kicking herself, but unable to stop the words from flowing from her mouth "Aw, you care, Sesshoumaru?" she mocked.

"Quite bold for one so vulnerable," he commented after a few seconds.

"Quite talkative for one so stoic," was her immediate retort.

Tonight was not her night. Inuyasha goes off with Kikyo. She couldn't even vent her frustrations through crying. She lost one of her cards and it was presently being held in the hands of one of her worst and _most _dangerous enemies, who she could not for all her strength and will-power stop insulting. Realizing the gravity of the situation when Sesshoumaru once more narrowed his eyes at her, Kagome quickly sobered.

"I apologize," she said with what she thought was the appropriate amount of seriousness in her voice. "May I have my card back?" she asked remembering the cause for their encounter.

Sesshoumaru held the card up for his inspection, turning it over. He examined it with a keen eye, as though he were a jeweler and the card a prized gem. Kagome swore it was the longest minute of her life. How interesting could a card be? It's a piece of paper with numbers and shapes on it—amazing!! Still, she remained rooted to her spot, patiently waiting for him to sate his curiosity.

Finally lifting his golden gaze he stared at her. She stared right back with a 'can I _help_ you?' look on her face. They looked at each other for a few more seconds and with each second Kagome became a bit more unnerved and a bit more annoyed. Slowly his eyes slid to the card he held in his hand and back to her deep blue eyes.

Taking the hint Kagome mouthed an 'O'. "It's a card." Seeing he expected more she continued, "It's part of my game. One of 52." When all she received was a noncommittal "hn" she began to get miffed. After all, _he _was the one who picked up _her_ card. He was the one who initiated this encounter and she'd be damned if she let him make her feel stupid for not being able to read his mind and immediately know what he wanted. "Can I have my card back?" she asked with a decidedly harder edge to her tone.

He gazed at her for a few more moments. Throwing the card down to the floor Kagome watched as it fluttered to the floor between them. "Thank y-" she stopped suddenly, realizing he was no longer there. With a shrug she went to scoop up the discarded card.

Turning her head back up to the sky she saw that the moon was practically in the same spot it had been before her cards were swept away. Her encounter with Sesshoumaru could not have been more than 10 minutes—if that. Marveling at the disproportionate relationship between the passage of time and the significance of situations the young girl looked down at the card the demon lord had held in his hand and 'hm'-ed.

It was a seven of spades.

Kagome mentally snorted at the irony of the situation. Of all the cards for the great taiyoukai to come by, it was a seven of spades. Seven was a decidedly lucky number. But spades were decidedly negative in connotation. Smooth, black, and sharp, the word "spade" originated from the Greek "blade" and is often associated with death.

As she dusted herself off and headed back to the campsite, forgoing winning her last game, she pondered. "So if spades are bad, but sevens are good...does that make Sesshoumaru bad luck?"

* * *

Yay!! This is what i spent an afternoon doing, when i really should have been reading one of the 6 books i need to finish by next week.

please give me some input!!


	5. Chapter 4: Now and Then

A/N: Ok so this seems to be doing well which I'm really grateful for. I gotta thank people like my "most favoritest person in the whole wide world" (favoritest isn't a word btw HAH!) for keeping me on my toes and down to earth about little grammar glitches and typos.

I've been rereading the Inuyasha mangas that I have and have been doing more research on the history of cards and solitaire than I have studying for my classes and AP exams, which is probably not the best way to manage my time…but oh well.

And to seshysgodestris, I'm not _completely _sure about the whole tarot card deal (I think that was the word you were looking for) but I am considerably sure you can tell fortunes with a standard deck of cards. I've actually seen it done a few times; you just need to know how to interpret the order, symbols, and numbers…or something like that. I'm really not an expert on it since I don't think this fic will focus on that aspect of cards. But it's an interesting idea; I might do my hw on that for a future fic.

And in regards to my 'vulgar language' rolls eyes at RikaTro and that typo with the space: I'm lazy. 'Nuff said. So from now on, please keep me posted on errors, but don't expect them to be addressed until I have a lot of time on my hands or I finish this story. Sorry but it just seems like a lot of unnecessary work.

And the most important thing of all: I HAVE ESTABLISHED A PLOT!! I've pretty much just been flouncing about making chapters for whatever concepts jumped into my head…but I have a direction to go in now!! So yay! I think…That's yay-worthy, right?

And that's a lot of non-story writing so I'm gonna get on with it. Please, sorry, and thank you—whichever apply.

Disclaimer: was I supposed to disclaim the other three chapters I posted too? do I have to do it for every chapter after this one? or can it be understood that I just clearly don't have any claims to Inuyasha?

* * *

Chapter 4: Now and Then

"Six…seven…eight…nine…ten! Ready or not, here I come!!" Kagome uncovered her eyes and looked about the field of flowers she stood in. With a keen eye she surveyed the trees and boulders, and then she looked at the flowers. There were a few paths in the carpet of flowers that led into the surrounding forest. Believing this was her best bet she set about locating the two other participants of her most recent game.

It had been about two weeks, give or take, since her midnight encounter with Sesshoumaru. She had completely forgotten about it after a few days. The young time-traveler continued to play Solitaire on a regular basis when her companions rested and had succeeded in teaching Sango, Miroku, and Shippo a few more games. They now knew how to play Go Fish, Gin Rummy, War, Black Jack, and Poker. Although Miroku was rather distraught when she taught them the last game with no removal of clothing accompanied with the lesson.

Kagome slowly walked through the flower field, trying her best to remain unassuming as she strolled toward the trees where she assumed her victims hid. Eyes wide and whistling she sauntered over to a clearly visible demon lounging against a tree and asked in the most innocent and sugary tone she could muster, "I'm having a really difficult time finding these guys…it's like they're invisible!! Do you think you could help me out?"

She tilted her head; when her only reaction was a slightly raised eyebrow she continued in the same exaggerated tone of voice, "I don't think I can do it on my own, they're too good at this!" she said with false earnest. Tilting her head a bit more she listened, eyes no longer on the demon before. He watched as she listened intently for a sound. There it was—a muffled giggle.

Beaming at the demon before her, Kagome delivered a mock bow and veered off to the left toward the source of the sound. Slowly stalking towards a tree about two meters to her left she slowed her steps to an agonizing pace until she stood before said tree, simply looking at it.

"I wonder," she called back, "if anyone is hiding behind here…" If her back had been turned, she would have seen a roll of amber eyes. Pausing once more, she turned to face the tree and waited for the inevitable…

With a sudden squeal, a blur of black, yellow, and orange darted out from behind the tree Kagome stood before and took flight into the field of flowers. _Wrong move_, Kagome thought as she took chase. In a few strides she had her prize firmly within her grasp. Laughing while the blur giggled, Kagome moved to start tickling her victim.

"St-sto-stop-p-p, Kagome-chan!! R-Rin-n canno-not breathe!!" the young girl in her arms squealed in between fits of laughter.

"Never!!" Kagome answered back in her most villainous and deep tone, which was not at all that villainous or deep. "Not unless you tell me where your accomplice is!" Pausing to allow her captive to answer, Kagome stopped tickling her.

Young brown eyes looked up defiantly at her, "'Never!!'" Kagome looked incredulously at the demon at the edge of the field then down at his ward and immediately renewed her assault. Rolling from side to side in hopes of alleviating the harmless torture, Rin finally reached her limit and shouted out for help.

After a few more moments of tickling, Kagome and Rin were cast into a shadow. Rin gasped, and in her wonder completely forgot she was being tickled. Kagome in turn wanted to see what could shock her little friend so much. She turned her upper body to see exactly what was blocking her sunlight and shrieked and backed away a good ten feet on her hands and feet before stopping and reevaluating the creature before her.

By the time Kagome calmed down, she realized the giant worm that had loomed over her, not 5 seconds before wore a blue bow where its head should be and had a red bushy tail where its...non-head end should have been. And said worm and former-captive were now laughing hysterically at the previously distraught miko. "Shippo!!" said distraught miko exclaimed, "That was not funny!"

"They seem to disagree." For the second time in less than two minutes, Kagome had a mini-heart attack as she jumped and turned to the demon who seemed to have materialized at her side. "Sesshoumaru!" she gasped, mid-way through a reflexive swat she realized what she was about to do and to who and pulled her hand back. Somewhat shaken at her narrowly-avoided death she settled for a weak, "don't do that…"

He eyed her with his stoic and impassive face and with a slight "hn" turned back to the laughing children then back to her, "We should depart soon. The sun will set shortly."

Almost completely in control of her composure, Kagome straightened. She gazed at the Lord of the West for a moment before muttering, "You're right." Turning to the children who laughed so hard they were both on their backs chuckling at regular intervals. "Cooooome on, off we go kids. The sun's gonna set soon and I gotta make dinner."

"And bathe," Sesshoumaru added.

Kagome did a 180 degree turn to face him with blazing, indignant, woman-scorned fury all over her face, "Who are you to—"

Cutting her off, he pointedly looked to Shippo and Rin. "I was referring to the children. You would have them bathe unattended?" he accused with another raised eyebrow.

One day, Kagome swore, one day she would shave that thing right off. And just the left one, because that's the one he always raises. Unable to verbalize any of her internal workings or think of a reasonable response she was forced to settle with an intelligible, "Oh."

When their giggles subsided, the two children ran to their respective guardians and together the four of them made their way back to the clearing where the rest of Kagome's group awaited. Kagome could not help but think what a strange sight they must have made. A human with a demon child perched on her shoulder and a demon with a human child walking with a fist-full of his hakama in her hand. And she could not help but think how strangely such circumstances had come to be.

Exactly a week after their first card-induced encounter, one of Kagome's now-regular Solitaire-sessions was again interrupted by the white haired demon that now walked before her. Well no so much interrupted as silently disrupted to the point of her stopping.

Kagome had just been sitting on the same rock-perch, playing the same game she had for the past 7 nights, when she felt a light breeze and immediately panicked and slammed her hands down as wide as they would go so that none of the cards would go flying like before. She knew she must have looked stupid. And somewhere in the back of her head she realized the breeze was not even strong enough to muss her hair let alone sweep away the cards, but she was a bit paranoid about it.

Finally looking up she realized she was no longer alone and that the breeze was not caused by the wind but by a Taiyoukai dressed in white and carrying two swords. There he stood, not two feet away from her stone seat, simply looking at her. Needless to say Kagome was floored. She had done _absolutely nothing_ to merit this. She was not in his way, she was not shooting at him, and she had definitely not insulted him…yet. So why was he standing right there, looking at her light he had every right to be there?

What annoyed Kagome was that fact that he didn't _do_ anything. He just _stood_ there _watching_ her. She tried ignoring him and continuing her game, but his is a presence not easily ignored, and after a few minutes and poorly made moves she was completely unnerved.

Looking up in the middle of her now-ruined game she glared at him. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she gritted out "what is your purpose for being here?" She frowned slightly at the awkward phrasing. She had opted out of "What do you want?" or "Can I help you?" to avoid some scathing remark on how she could not _possibly_ have anything _he_ would want or be able to help _him_. But the words felt so contrived…which they were…but it did not help ease the miko's tension.

She was again thrown for a loop when he responded to her inquiry. Granted it was not a direct answer to her question. It was a response, spoken words, which was more than she expected. What surprised her the most however, was what he asked about. Looking down at the irate human before him he queried, "What game is so important that you forgo the safety of your companions?"

* * *

Okay…I really really _really_ wanted to have another chapter up…but I don't think I can fit it everything that I want to happen in one chapter…so I think I'm gonna break it up into either two or three separate chapters…I'm sorry if the ending of this seems rather abrupt…but its 1:15 in the morning…I have mass in 5 hours and I have been at this since 9.

and if anyone is lost…it started two weeks later…ended one week ago.

I guess I'm just not inspired right now…so I probably should not have been forcing my writing anyway…but yeah…

sorry again!


	6. Chapter 5: The Purpose for Playing

Chapter 5: The Purpose of Playing

"What game is so important that you forgo the safety of your companions?"

Still somewhat shocked by his sudden appearance Kagome simply looked at him, wondering why he would possibly be here with _her_ and seemingly willing to converse. Well not quite converse, she thought, it will probably be more of a Q&A, but it would still be _something_. Exactly what—she had no idea.

They continued to stare at each other for a minute—Sesshoumaru impassive, Kagome dumbfounded. Finally forced to blink, Kagome realized she had not yet answered his question.

Leaning back a bit she looked toward the path that led to her comrades. "I'm in no danger," she said looking up at the demon and tapping her ear. "Out of sight, but not out of sound. Inuyasha would hear me if I called for him," she said confidently, silently asking if such actions would be necessary.

The Lord of the West continued to watch her—somewhat bored, somewhat searching "Hn."

Kagome watched him watch her for a moment before deciding that she had done nothing to merit his wrath therefore should be in the clear. Sliding her eyes off his imposing form she returned to her game.

The rows were slightly mussed so she set about straightening them. Looking down Kagome frowned. This was not a good deal. She knew before she even attempted to resume her game that she would not win. So with a huff she gathered up her cards and once more began to shuffle.

While shuffling her cards she looked up, unable to sense his presence but seeing him before her nonetheless. Sesshoumaru was clearly masking his presence, his scent too probably, considering Inuyasha had not come charging through the forest yet.

Sesshoumaru was no longer looking at her but up at the sky and its waning moon, much like the one upon his forehead, if only a bit thicker and lacking in the royal blue coloring of his own.

"It's called Solitaire," Kagome ventured, realizing she had not answered his original question. "It has other names, but I call it Solitaire. It's just a game. It helps me relax, I guess. Distracts me from the problems of the day."

"'Just a game'," he stated, once again turning to watch her and her movements as she dealt out a new set of cards. 7 rows, each row with one more card in it that the previous.

Kagome nodded.

"Games serve no purpose."

The young miko paused and looked up into the calculating eyes of the dog demon before her, "All things have a purpose."

His eyes bore into hers, almost daring her to challenge him, so she did. "All things serve a purpose," she reiterated. "Playing games is no different." Looking up to see if she had his attention she continued in a somewhat condescending tone, quite a feat considering she was talking down to _the_ Lord of the Western lands. "To play a game is to learn. It is to prepare for a similar situation on a much larger scale. When pups pounce on each other they are practicing to stalk and hunt, are they not, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Looking down coldly at her, he took a moment before responding, "You are the only creature to use an honorific as an insult."

"I thank you for the compliment," she spoke levelly.

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at her. Anyone who had known her better would have known she was joking. Apparently such humor was lost on the demon lord. Still, Kagome was pleased she had managed to pull one over on said demon lord, even though it was something as minor as an inside joke.

Now much more comfortable than she had been minutes ago Kagome pressed on, "But they are, are they not, preparing for life as adults?"

"They establish dominance."

"'Survival of the fittest'," she quipped.

"Indeed," he assented.

Satisfied with his response, Kagome turned her eyes back to her game. Kagome got lost in the simple and easy motions of the game. Only after all the cards had been rightly deposited into their four piles of chronological suits did Kagome again look up. Much to her surprise the taiyoukai was still there, seeming to not have moved an inch.

She had no idea what to make of the situation. But deciding she had been gone long enough and that she had sacrificed enough sleep, Kagome slid off her perch and faced the strange, strange demon.

"Well…" she trailed off looking all around Sesshoumaru before finally meeting his gaze, "it's been real, Sesshoumaru. Good night." With a mock salute in his direction the girl from the future walked off into the forest towards her camp.

* * *

The day following their second encounter had been uneventful for Inuyasha and his band of shard-hunters. Uneventful in the sense that they had only faced minor mindless demons, none of which possessed any shards. The only consolation lay in the fact that they had managed to make good time and distance with their minimal distractions. Combing through most of the northern forests they were that much closer to locating Naraku.

A typical day for the shard-hunters.

Kagome was not so lucky.

Again, only one night after they had spoken, Kagome was interrupted during her nightly ritual, this time even before she could finish laying out the cards for her first game. Needless to say she was quickly becoming miffed. Sesshoumaru again stood before her, not too far away.

Kagome's choice of location for her ritual was in a clearing not far off from the one her fellow shard-hunters slept in. Finished dealing her cards she looked up to find the demon _still _standing there. Knowing that ignoring him would do nothing to deter him from remaining watch, Kagome did the next best thing.

"Would you like to have a seat, Sesshoumaru?" The tree she sat against was large and wide, so scooting over she offered him somewhere to rest his back while still being able to witness her game.

She assumed he was here to observe her strange game. For what other reason could he possibly have for visiting her so often? There was probably nothing like this invented yet and he was simply curious but unwilling to seek answers from a human. Empirical learning, she rationalized.

He silently accepted her offer, gracefully taking a seat beside her, careful not to touch. He watched her play for a moment. Watched as she moved a card that clearly resembled an Anglo Queen below a similar King. "What do you learn from this game?"

Faltering only slightly in her movements Kagome continued to play, seeming to not have heard him.

Sesshoumaru was not one to be ignored, when he so choose not to be…ignored that is. And this human had been doing an exceedingly good job at ignoring him these past two nights, as well as slighting him. Her barbs had not gone unnoticed, they were simply not acknowledged—he was not so petty.

"Human," he growled lightly for her attention.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she said not missing a beat as she moved another line of cards to a different stack and flipped a different card over. "It's not," she continued, looking up at him briefly. "A bad thing," she paused and frowned, "being human, I mean," she finished off.

"You will answer my question."

Sticking her tongue out at him childishly, she returned her attentions to her game. Just when he believed her to have ignored him again she spoke, "I just needed to think of the right answer, jeez." Stopping her game altogether she leaned back against the tree and looked up into the sky.

"It doesn't really teach me anything, I suppose."

"Then your claims last night were false."

"I didn't say it didn't have a purpose," she snapped quickly at him, blue eyes sparkling in defiance. Relaxing again against the tree she resumed her own watch. "It places things in perspective for me. It is a parallel to life, in a sense."

Glancing down at her half-finished game, Kagome gestured for Sesshoumaru to observe. "This game is a smaller scale of the life we all live. It bears similar goals and similar situations to the lives that we live."

"Explain."

"My, aren't we snippy tonight." Kagome's sharp words were greeted with an equally hard-edged look from the very dangerous demon beside her. With an exaggerated huff of acquiescence Kagome explained.

"Well, like life, the goal of the game is to place things in a certain order. To place them in their rightful place." As she spoke she moved a 2 to one of Aces that lay above the seven rows of cards. She did the same with another 2, then a 3.

"There's an order to reach that goal, though," she drew three cards. "To get to something you may want or need," she directed his gaze to a 4 that lay beneath a Jack, "you need to deal with certain obstacles that hinder you." Placing the Jack below the Queen she relocated the 4 to its rightful pile above the seven rows.

"That's a few of the things that I think about when I play Solitaire." She resumed her game. "There are a few other philosophies that I've come up with, but some of those you can only learn through the subtleties of the game." She briefly wondered what time it was. It couldn't have been too late considering Sesshoumaru had interrupted her earlier than usual.

"What more has it taught you?"

"You are awfully talkative this evening, Sesshoumaru-sama," she lightly jeered, an amused smile playing on her concentrated face. But she continued her explanation before he could respond, "A simple card game made me realize, or rather, face, for the first time, that every action we make, every decision we choose, affects the outcome of the game."

She looked up into his cold and calculating eyes while he spoke, "How do you…play?"

* * *

yeeeeay. haha idk if you guys are happy with this. I am. there are just too many great things about solitaire to stuff into one chapter. I was even thinking of breaking this one up…but clearly I chose not to.

well yeah…I should probably stop cuz if not I'll bet up until 2AM again and I really need to do something productive to help prepare for AP exams…or at least pretend to make an effort to do so.

I hope you enjoyed it. pretty, pretty, pleeeease review! reviews are my fanfiction life-force haha.

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 6: Boredom

AN: Sorry sorry sorry. if you care. I know i've been awol, but school got hectic and i got depressed and my heart was just not into writing...

trying to make a comeback but i might be a little slow. my bad.

Chapter 6: Boredom

"How do you…play?"

Sesshoumaru, Kagome thought, was just full of surprises tonight. She would not have believed in a million years that Sesshoumaru would "lower" himself to actually asking how to play one of Kagome's games. And he _had_ asked, he hadn't demanded and there were no threats involved. All in all Kagome found it quite amazing.

And in her stunned state, the miko's most intelligible response to the taiyoukai's question was, "Seriously?"

Finding her incredulity rather amusing, Sesshoumaru mocked her at her own expense. "Seriously," he intoned.

Ever the one to know an insult when she heard one, Kagome snapped out of her daze at his taunt and tried to smooth her ruffled feathers. Looking down at the game before her she decided she was not so deeply invested that it would be a great loss to start over, so she began to collect the cards back into a singular pile.

Having taught her companions how to play already Kagome had no problem explaining the basics of the card deck. 52 cards, four suits, 13 cards per suit.

"The first thing, I guess, would be to set up the game," she began, dealing out the cards. Seven rows, each row with one more card that the previous. With that finished she held the remaining cards in her hand.

"This is the draw pile. You're supposed to put it down above the rows to draw from, but I just hold it. It makes things easier…for me… I guess…But I think you might have to put it down…to play," she rambled nervously looking to his empty left sleeve hidden by his momoko-sama.

Sesshoumaru simply continued to look at her. And Kagome became increasingly uncomfortable under his overpowering gaze. With a forced cough she continued her explanation.

And for the better part of the rest of the evening the young woman from the future sat and patiently explained a simple card game to an aristocratic assassin.

On his part, Sesshoumaru made no move to participate. Neither did he voice any questions or complaints—if he had any. He simply watched attentively as Kagome moved the cards and explained the rules of the game.

Seemingly stumped and clearly uncomfortable with Sesshoumaru's sudden lack of previous talkativeness, Kagome sat back against the tree. Throwing her hands out before her she gestured to the half-finished game, "And that's how to play Solitaire."

Looking up for some sort of reaction, Kagome was greatly disappointed but not completely surprised to see Sesshoumaru had resumed his stoic mask and looked boredly up at the sky. With a sigh, she too ignored the rest of her game and looked up at the stars.

What did he want from her?

Why was he even here?

She had a few guesses, but they still did not seem to add up completely. She was missing something and it bugged her to no-end.

Before too long and with no warning Sesshoumaru gracefully stood, creating a soft flutter of air that felt strange on Kagome's arm. Just as suddenly he began walking away. But before he could get to the end of the clearing Kagome's confusion, frustration, and curiosity got the better of her.

"What is this? Why are you here? Again. Do you want something from me?"

Slowing his exit, Sesshoumaru stops but does not turn. "Five of hearts to six of clubs."

"What?" Looking down Kagome saw that if she obeyed his instruction she could freely move the six of spades to its rightful pile above the seven rows, successfully continuing a game she had thought she lost. "Oh…but that still doesn't answer anythi-"

Stopping short, she saw that he was no longer there. One day, she would finish each and every single sentence she spoke to him. But because that day was not today, Kagome could do nothing but resign herself to her confusion.

Growling lightly to herself, she finished the game, which she would not have won without Sesshoumaru's help. But for some reason it just made Kagome more bitter towards the demon and his strange behavior and after successfully placing the cards in their rightful piles and effectively winning Kagome cleared out her cards and headed back to camp.

* * *

The day following Kagome's lesson had been uneventful. That night Kagome's ritual had gone uninterrupted, as did the night after that, and the night after that. So after three typical days and three uninterrupted nights, Kagome started getting back into the regular flow of things.

She still played solitaire in the dead of the night. And she still meditated upon her life while she played. A number of times during her games she would ponder about the demon lord and sometimes she would even wonder if he'd show up again.

On the fourth day of travel the group of shard hunters turned around and headed back to Kaede's village to restock and allow Kagome to return home for a bit.

"You better be back on time or I'll drag your lazy ass back here," Inuyasha threatened.

"Inuyasha-"

"Will miss you as the rest of us will, Kagome-san," Miroku interjected. "Enjoy your stay."

"Have fun!" Sango chimed in.

"Bring me back some candy!!"

"I will, Shippo. Don't worry," the young girl laughed.

It was times like these that she was allowed to feel her age. When she was saying goodbye to her friends and they treated it as though she would be gone for a year instead of three days. It made her feel so significant and at the same time so insignificant. All in all it was just a very emotional scene that she could have done without.

"Alright, guys. I'm off. See you in a few days."

Taking one last glance back at her companions she hoisted herself onto the edge of the well and jumped.

Before the blue swirl of magic engulfed her, she was sure she heard someone yell, "Don't forget the ramen!" Rolling her eyes with a laugh, Kagome landed on her side of the well.

Looking up at the ceiling where 500 years in the past was blue skies Kagome could not help but compare the two eras. Deciding she preferred the past, she let out a sigh and pulled herself out of the well.

"Mama, I'm home!"

It was about 3 in the afternoon and Kagome didn't really expect anyone to be home. Souta should still be at school, her mom at work, and Grandpa…somewhere. Walking through the kitchen Kagome pet the top of her fat cat's head and headed up to her room. They would all eventually get home, there was no need to worry too much.

* * *

Bored. Good Kami, she was so bored. And it had only been two days. Not even two full days. Who would have thought the modern era would be so boring? Sure there was stuff to do—shop, watch TV, homework—but Kagome genuinely did not feel like doing any of that.

After all she had just finished taking 3 tests she had missed during her time in the feudal era and she felt like she had studied enough to make up for a good 3 week's worth of travel. With that thought in mind she decided she'd go for a walk. The sun was still up and a nice sunset would do her spirits good.

Walking out of her house she looked up and balked, finally realizing a nature walk and acceptable sunset could not been achieved in her era. Tall Tokyo skyscrapers pierced the sky eliminating any possible view of an unobstructed sunset. Kagome really missed the feudal era—Shikon, Naraku, and all. At least she could see a decent sunset on the horizon.

"You have got to be kidding me!" the high schooler ranted to herself. "I am so bored!"

Stomping over to Goshiboku Kagome plopped herself down on its many roots and evaluated her options.

1. shopping—no money

2. TV—too boring

3. homework—didn't have any

4. nap—not even close to tired

5. hang out with friends—they were all busy and she was still supposed to be "sick"

Kagome was restless and bored and need to do _something_. She was getting really antsy. Going back to the feudal era early was not an option especially since Inuyasha had given in so easily to her request. She was not about to let that go to waste or give him an opportunity to cut any of her future stays short.

It wasn't really that she loved coming back home so much or that she remotely liked taking tests. Tests she had to take, but bargaining for time against Inuyasha—that was just principle and a little fun for Kagome.

But she was just _so_ bored. Finally making up her mind Kagome set out.

* * *

"Alright! Phew!" Wiping her brow of invisible and nonexistent sweat, Kagome attempted to stealthily creep out of the well. To her credit she only stumbled a few times and with minimal noise.

The young teen had decided to sneak back to the feudal era for that walk and sunset she couldn't enjoy in her own time. It was about 5 and the sun was just about to begin its descent. Luck was on her side and no one was monitoring the well when she came back through—probably because no one was expecting her back until the following day.

So Kagome was essentially in the clear. Being sure to take her bow and arrows with her for what little protection they could provide she made her way away from the well and the village. It would not do for any of her demon companions to catch her scent and seek her out.

She loved them all—don't be mistaken, but some things are better experienced alone. Trekking through the trees Kagome realized she had never really gone into that particular direction of Inuyasha's forest. She had known that Kaede's village was essentially backed up against the coast so there was really no need to travel there, but still, Kagome found it odd that her curiosity had never carried her to that part of the forest.

So with renewed vigor Kagome trudged through the forest seeking higher ground to watch the sunset upon. After maybe thirty or forty minutes Kagome noticed that she had began walking uphill on what seemed to be…well a hill. Further up Kagome viewed some sturdy looking rocks that she could lounge on.

Kagome liked her large stones. They were comforting and humbling. They were an anchor and made Kagome feel small but safe. So, upon reaching the cluster of smooth stones that seemed to form a small hill of their own, upon the hill which they lay, Kagome made her way to the top and collapsed with an exaggerated and relieved breath.

By this time the sun was descending lower over the western sky and the heavens were tinted with a splash of warm color. Kami's pallet indeed. The sight before her was beautiful. The sky stretched into forever and the forest was a carpet of lush, deep green. The picture it painted was amazing.

Dark treetops pierced the sky at intervals creating a balanced variation. The colorful sky seemed to draw from it the very life force of the land and all its creatures and it in turn gave warmth and beauty. And Kagome basked in it. She gave up her energies and soaked up the glory of the world—this world.

She closed her eyes in revelry. And when she opened them, she was no longer alone.

* * *

AN: whoa that was a lot shorter than i thought. haha ok i know i havent been around and updating. and in all honesty i'm pretty miffed that i still have the same amount of reviews as when i left. :

this wasnt where i was originally gonna stop but plans changed...and i am seriously miffed that i'm gone for a good two weeks and get no new reviews. not that i dont love those of you who do, cause i do.

its just a major bummer to feel like no one really missed you while you were gone, ya know?

so here's the deal. 10 reviews and i put the next chapter up. it's kinda unfair and blackmail-y-ish...but i never said i played fair.

PLEASE REVIEW!!


	8. Chapter 7: Baby Sitter

Solitaire by Kibou7587

This goes out to all you really GREAT people who didn't give me a hard time for not updating!! A special shout out to Sacred Tree for all the moral support! A shout out to mikare (just cos she told me to). But really this is for all of you. I couldn't handle letting you down.

I think I can only write when I'm under pressure, cuz summer's practically over and I have a lot of stuff to do, but all I wanna do is write.

* * *

When she opened her eyes she was no longer alone.

"Of all the things to feel right now about seeing you…I did _not_ expect to feel relieved."

"Then perhaps you should reevaluate your current situation…human."

Snickering from her position on her rock hill upon a hill Kagome grabbed her knees to her chest. "Ha! Sorry to burst your bubble, almighty Sesshoumaru-sama, but I could do a lot worse than you to ruin my sunset."

A raised eyebrow replaced an unspoken inquiry.

"Inuyasha would have been much more troublesome and defeated the whole purpose of me sneaking back here." The eyebrow rose minutely higher at the term 'sneaking'.

"And you are better than some mindless demon, at least you have reason. And you saved me the effort of having to string an arrow—it wouldn't make a difference against you anyway," the teen said as if it were a good thing.

Hearing a rough and muffled crash that could not have been produced from the Killing Perfection before her, Kagome directed her gaze to just over the edge of her rock hill to behind Sesshoumaru to see Jaken fumbling with his demon lord's pack beast and a little girl silently observing everything from Jaken's fuss, to her Lord's stance, to the woman he was with.

Flopping down on her rock and spreading eagle Kagome relaxed further. "Now I know I have nothing to worry about," she said to the demon above her head, "There is no way you'd kill me in front of her."

Shifting his stance slightly to shield the girls from each others' line of sight Sesshoumaru looked down disdainfully, "You give me much credit."

"None of it undeserved, I'm sure." Words normally meant as praise fell flat and meaningless from her lips. Pushing herself up into a half-laying position and turning to look up, the increasingly annoyed girl grumbled, "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy the rest of my sunset in silence."

Sesshoumaru simply continued to stare down at the young girl. _Well better than nothing. At least he's quiet._ Eyes sliding off his figure they caught the girl who accompanied him again staring at her. _Rin_, she remembered. The girl could not have been older than 9, maybe closer to six or seven, it was really hard to tell, especially with Japanese children.

Meeting the older woman's gaze the child quickly ducked behind the flanks of the two-headed dragon. Kagome giggled lightly at the shy antics of the girl. "It's Rin, right?"

Kagome purposely ignored the nearly imperceptible uneasy shift in Sesshoumaru's stance and Jaken's squawk of objection. The small girl nodded. The young miko motioned her over, "Would you like to join me? The colors of the sunset are lovely, especially from up here." Kagome smiled gently, invitingly down to the young girl below.

Stepping out from behind Ah-Un, Rin made her way over to stand by her lord's side, gripped his hakama and tugged lightly. Kagome watched as Sesshoumaru lowered his gaze to meet his ward's and gave a slight inclination of his head. With his say-so, the young orphan settled at Kagome's side to watch the changing colors of the sky.

"My name is Kagome," the elder girl said once the sun had set well beyond the horizon and the fading colors danced across the sky into darkness. "I have a son around your age. You should come and play with us some time. He gets kind of bored with only adults to hang around with all day long," Kagome continued smiling at her new friend.

"Hai, Kagome-sama," said child returned shyly, "Rin would like that."

"Great!!" Kagome exclaimed. "Now I won't always lose at tag!" Turning swiftly to Rin again, "Only one rule though," she said seriously. Rin looked nervously up at her so she smiled reassuringly, "It's just Kagome. I'm too young to be a –sama," she laughed.

Rin looked a little confused, "But Sesshoumaru-sama is a –sama," she spoke honestly.

"Ah, true," was Kagome's wise response, "But Sesshoumaru-sama _is_ old! He already has white hair!" Kagome said beaming. Rin gasped, a little shocked, but laughed all the same.

"Jaken," the demon behind them spoke. "Take Rin and Ah-Un to shelter."

"Yes, milord," the toad replied.

"Awww, must Rin go with Jaken, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the child asked looking up at her protector.

"Yeah, _must_ Rin go with Jaken, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the miko parroted, looking up with false earnest in her eyes.

Amber eyes hardened as they met mocking blue. "Rin," he said with a note of finality in his tone.

"Hai, milord." Turning to Kagome, Rin bowed deeply, "Good evening, Kagome-sa-"

"Ah, ah, ah," said girl cut her off.

Grinning sheepishly, the child corrected herself, "Kagome. Good evening, Kagome."

Getting up and sweeping the girl into a giant bear hug Kagome spun her around once. "Good evening, Rin-sama," she joked. "I hope we see each other again. I'm sure my son would love the company." Setting her down the two girls exchanged bows once again and the littler of the two ran off to join her nanny and pet.

"Good to see you don't raise her to be a rock like you, Fluffers," she said turning to face the remaining demon. The ground shook slightly at his displeased growl. "Kidding, kidding. Sesshoumaru-_jii-sama_."

"You take great liberties where you should not." Sesshoumaru spoke slowly. "You are neither my ward nor her retainer. Know your place."

A bit stunned by his hostility, Kagome took a steadying step and quickly recovered. "But what is life without a little risk?"

"A life."

"Alright, so what brings you to me today?" Kagome decided to get down to the nitty-gritty. He didn't seem like he was in a forgiving mood but had no reason to take it out on her. These meetings had not occurred by her hand, he was always the one approaching her. "I don't have my cards with me, Inuyasha is clearly not with me, and until you disrupted my sunset-watching I did nothing to attract your attention."

Sesshoumaru was silent for a long time. He looked decidedly uncomfortable…or as uncomfortable as Kagome could tell through his schooled features. They stood there for a long while. Kagome would shift from looking at Sesshoumaru, to the forest behind him, to the stone they stood on, to the sky, and back to the demon lord. His eyes only alternated between her and the rising moon at her back.

Finally, after Kagome was about to give up and head back to the well he spoke, "I want my arm back."

Well that was sure unexpected, Kagome thought. "I would too…" she ventured uncertainly after a moment, "but I can't really do anything to…give you your arm back."

"Obviously," he said giving her a pointed look. "I will be retrieving my arm myself, in the realm of the dead."

"Ah, I see…" the girl spoke. _Not really_, she mentally muttered. So what if he wanted his arm back? He was the one who was going to go get it. "I don't understand how any of that would involve me."

"Rin is in need of…a guardian, in my absence."

Kagome gawked in a way that she was sure made her look just like Jaken. When her brain finally registered what he said she started laughing, full on holding her sides, bent at the waist, trying to keep upright. "You- You want me to ba-baby sit for you?" She was nearly crying by the time forced out the words.

The demon let out a disgruntled sound when her laughter failed to subside after a few more moments. "I will commission you to care for her in my absence."

Still wiping tears from her eyes Kagome stood up to face him once again, "Isn't that what Jaken is for? You did call him her retainer."

"For short periods of time I can rely on him," Sesshoumaru conceded. "It would make me…uneasy to place her care in his hands for an undetermined amount of time."

That sobered Kagome up. "How long do you plan on being gone?"

He shrugged in a movement that made him look young and unthreatening. In that instance he didn't look like the Demon Lord of the West, he seemed like a big brother dumping off his kid sister on someone else.

Even knowing that was not quite the case did not make the scene any less meaningful in Kagome's eyes. That glimpse made Kagome realize that in demon years Sesshoumaru probably was young. He still hadn't reached his full potential if the size of his father was any indication. Of course he would want his arm back. Who would want to live the rest of their life disabled if they could help it?

"I'm your enemy," she spoke seriously. "Would you really entrust the care of your ward to your enemy?"

"You are not my enemy." The demon flicked his eyes back down to Kagome, "You are merely an annoyance during battle."

"Way to make me wanna work for you, Jerk-sama," Kagome growled. Really! She wasn't even worthy to be considered a true enemy! Just an annoyance!! _I've contributed during battles!! No one else ever broke his armor_, she mentally groused.

"I simply have Rin's well-being in mind," he spoke evenly, "Surely you do not wish me to entrust a weak human girl to the care of a low level demon? Or a palace full of full-blooded powerful demons that are highly unaccustomed to humans? I had thought mikos were supposed to be of pure and caring hearts…was I mistaken Kagome-san?"

He was mocking her. _He_ was mocking _her!!_ Kagome was completely irritated because not only was he mocking her, but he was completely right.

Kagome had only just met the child, but she had seen her before when Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha battled—she liked the little girl. She could tell she was kind and adored Sesshoumaru like a father. How could she refuse?

Rin would definitely be safer with her group. Even if Inuyasha was off with Kikyo there was still Miroku and Sango to help her protect the child—and they were at least humans too.

"For her," the miko began, "For Rin's sake, I'll take care of her while you're gone."

Once the words were out of her mouth Sesshoumaru turned to walk away but Kagome's voice stopped him short. "About this commission…what do I get?"

* * *

Yay!! I finally have another chapter up!! i know its been a looooong while, and i'm really sorry, but i'm back...kinda.

Please enjoy. I'm open to requests and i'll try to fit them in if i can!

Review please!


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